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U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. - The Air Force fencers kicked-off 2014 going 5-4 overall at the Western Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 11. Fencing against region opponents, the Air Force women finished 3-2 against Northwestern, Stanford, Cal Tech, Florida, and UC San Diego. The men finished 2-2 against Stanford, Cal Tech, Florida and UCSD. Madeleine Girardot (women's foil) was the only Air Force fencer to go undefeated. Air Force is now 11-10 overall in collegiate fencing.

In women's team scoring, Air Force victories were Cal Tech 22-5, Florida 19-8 and UCSD 14-13 and lost to Stanford 15-12 and Northwestern 23-4. In men's team scoring, Air Force beat Cal Tech 22-5 and Florida 21-6, they lost to UCSD 17-10 and Stanford 21-6.

Girardot went undefeated in women's foil (15-0) while Waverly Hock finished with a 14-8 record. Virginia Long (a walk-on) added one victory (1-14). The foil team finished 24-21 in bouts.

In men's epee, James Salem was the team's high scorer with a 7-4 bout record. Overall the epee team finished with a 19-17 record. Elias Johnson finished 4-6, and Robert Chaddo had a 6-5 record and Andrew Daugherty finished with a 2-2 record.

Alexander Chiang was the top AF finisher in men's foil. He finished the tournament with an 8-1 record. Garrett Turley followed with a 5-4 record, and Daniel Johnson had a 3-6 record. The squad's overall record was 18-18.

The women's foil and the men's saber squads were AF's biggest winners. The women's foil team scored over 70 percent of their victories against their five opponents. The saber squad scored over 60% of their victories against their opponents.

"Both the men and women's teams faught hard at the Western Invitational," said Head coach Abdel Salem. "Both teams came out strong to kick off 2014. The team lost to a strong Stanford team, and the women lost to Northwestern and the men to UCSD."